Past Simple

The past simple is the most common way to talk about finished actions and events in the past. We use it for things that happened at a specific time — yesterday, last week, in 2010 — and are now completely finished. It is one of the first tenses learners study, and it forms the foundation of English storytelling and everyday conversation.

• • Regular verbs: add -ed to the base form: work → worked, play → played, start → started.
• • Spelling rules: verbs ending in -e just add -d (like → liked). Verbs ending in consonant + vowel + consonant double the final consonant (stop → stopped).
• • Irregular verbs have their own past forms that must be memorised: go → went, have → had, see → saw, buy → bought.
• • Negatives and questions use 'did/didn't' + the base form. The main verb does NOT change: She didn't go (not 'didn't went').
• • The verb 'to be' is irregular: was (I/he/she/it) and were (you/we/they). Its negative uses wasn't/weren't directly.

1. 1

   Completed actions at a specific time in the past.

   "I called you yesterday." / "She graduated in 2018."

2. 2

   A series of completed past actions (telling a story).

   "He got up, had breakfast, and left the house."

3. 3

   Past habits or states that no longer exist (often with "used to").

   "We lived in France for three years." / "He worked nights when he was younger."

4. 4

   With time expressions: yesterday, last week/month/year, in + year, ago, when.

   "They arrived two hours ago." / "When did you last see her?"

• Use the past simple for finished actions with a clear past time reference.
• Regular verbs: add -ed. Irregular verbs must be memorised.
• Negatives: didn't + base form. Questions: Did + subject + base form?
• To be: was/were — does not use 'did' in negatives/questions (wasn't/weren't).
• Key time words: yesterday, last night, ago, in + year, when.
• The main verb always stays in base form after did/didn't.

Two friends catching up over lunch after a long weekend.